


Sojourn

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Juuni Kokki | Twelve Kingdoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-20
Updated: 2007-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 07:56:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1640096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shoukei makes good on a promise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sojourn

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sybel Sayrah

 

 

After the rebellion in Wa province had come to a peaceful solution, the first thing that Shoukei had done was to dress herself once again in the shawl of a common traveler, and set off northward along the road from Takuho. The former princess of the kingdom of Hou had a promise to keep, and she intended to be true to her word.

The Daigaku of En in the capitol city of Kankyu was a huge complex, rivaling the grounds of the palace where Shoukei had been raised. To find any one person among the crowd of students milling among the buildings was a difficult task at best--and yet, the months of travel after leaving Hou had made Shoukei nothing if not efficient. Her appearance at the university gate caught the attention of some young men who were passing by, and after a few minutes of polite conversation, several of the students set off enthusiastically to assist her in her search.

...And so it was that Rakushun had found her waiting in the central courtyard of the university. They stood facing each other under the shade of a blooming sakura, its ancient branches shedding pink petals around them like softly falling snow.

Shoukei clasped her hands together and bowed to him.

_Rakushun, I owe you so much._

Rakushun looked surprised for a moment, then tilted his head, yellow eyes crinkling in the hanjyuu equivalent of a smile. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon," he said, sounding pleased by the visit. "Did you find what you were looking for in Kei?"

"Yes," Shoukei replied without hesitation, "I did."

Rakushun wasn't busy with classes at the moment, so they settled onto a nearby bench to talk. Rakushun noted her clothing, and asked her if she was traveling with a horse or kijyuu. Shoukei responded that Youko had offered one, but she preferred to travel on her own, the same way she and Rakushun had traveled most of the way across Ryu. It was a decision she had made with a clear heart. _I've spent too long placing myself above others. If I'm to become a good citizen, I need to learn how by firsthand experience._

She had surprised him by using Youko's name. At his polite inquiry, the story about Shoukei's recent travels came spilling out of her. Rakushun listened gravely as Shoukei told him about the rumors that had been spreading concerning the town of Shi-Sui, and her experience in the provincial capitol of Meikaku. She hesitated when she reached the part of the story where she had first met Youko, knowing that Youko had asked her not to tell. And yet, the very purpose of Shoukei's journey had been to meet the queen of Kei...somehow Shoukei couldn't bring herself to believe that Youko would want her to lie to cover things up. In the end, she gave Rakushun a generously edited version of the events in Wa province, downplaying some of the dangerous things that Youko had done at the time.

Shoukei couldn't leave out the final confrontation, however. It was branded into her memory--Queen Kei, soaring above the prostrated generals on the back of her kirin, her red hair flying like a banner in the wind. She had radiated royalty, in a way that Shoukei knew her own mother and father could never have done. In that moment, Shoukei had come to realize for the first time what it meant to be the true queen.

When Shoukei finished her tale, Rakushun seemed thoughtful. His pause made her wonder how much he had guessed of what hadn't been said. In the end, he gave a little sigh that sounded half-resigned and half-relieved. "That sounds like Youko, all right."

There was an odd note in his voice as he said it, and it made Shoukei look at him in surprise. However, before she could say anything, Rakushun rose to his feet.

"If you don't mind, I'd like you to wait here for just a moment," Rakushun said. "I have something that I'd like to show you, since you're here."

So Shoukei had waited for him, patiently settled amid the falling petals of sakura, watching students hurry about to and from class. She had never been at a university before, and realized that this was an entirely different life here inside these walls. It was closed off from the outside, away from conflict and the politics of the twelve kingdoms. She wondered if that was part of the reason why Rakushun traveled from time to time, to broaden his experience beyond what the university could teach.

She was so lost in her own reflections that she almost didn't notice when a pair of serviceable but simple shoes came to a halt in front of her.

Shoukei looked up into the face of a young man in a student's uniform. "Can I help you?" she asked.

The young man smiled. "Well, yes," he said. "This was actually what I wanted to you see."

The voice was unmistakable. "Rakushun?"

He nodded. As Shoukei shifted her skirts aside, he took up his former seat on the bench beside her. "The next time we meet, I might have to be in human form," he explained. "I have to practice at it, or so I've been told. I wanted to be sure that you'd recognize me."

He was handsome as a human, and Shoukei was not surprised at all to find that his face was just as kind.

"I suppose," Rakushun added, looking a little embarrassed, "that I shouldn't have worried. It seems like you recognized me right away."

Shoukei smiled. "I'm glad you let me see your human face. I've become so used to being around Kantai...he's the bear hanjyuu. He has to appear as a human nearly all of the time, even though it's probably more comfortable for him the other way."

"It sounds as if he had to hide that he was a hanjyuu in order to attain a rank in the military, so I'm not surprised." Rakushun said. "Even in a very open kingdom like En, hanjyuu who have important positions have to stay in their human forms as part of their job."

There was a pause as the two of them sat together, watching sakura petals drifting in the breeze. "If you don't mind my asking," Rakushun ventured at last, "what exactly are you planning to do now?"

"I'm on my way to Kyo," Shoukei answered. "I'm going there to turn myself in to Queen Kyo, to take responsibility for the treasures I stole."

Rakushun looked at her gravely. "That's very brave of you. I've heard that Queen Kyo is not a forgiving woman."

Shoukei remembered her time in Queen Kyo's palace. "She isn't," she said, and couldn't quite keep a bleak note out of her voice. "Still, what I did was wrong. I have to accept responsibility for that crime before I can go on."

Rakushun was silent for a long moment. "It seem to me that you've changed a lot since the last time we met," he observed finally.

"Have I?" Shoukei thought about it. "If I have, it's because of you."

Rakushun looked genuinely surprised. "That's very kind of you to say, but I don't think it's really true. No one can change a person from the outside. A person has to change from the inside in order for anything to happen."

Shoukei shook her head. "I couldn't have done it on my own. I just didn't see what I was doing wrong. The fact that you explained things helped me learn from my mistakes."

"Maybe. But I think you should give yourself more credit. It's very difficult for people to learn from their mistakes. The fact that you could is a reflection of your own desire for change. I may have helped you in your decision --but in the end, you changed because you wanted to."

Shoukei smiled a little at that. "I suppose." She shifted on the bench, reaching out a hand to trap a sakura petal on her palm. "What about you, Rakushun? After you graduate, where are you planning to go?"

"I've always wanted to be a government official," Rakushun replied. "Originally I thought I'd settle down here in En. Recently, though, I've begun to think I'd like to live in Kei. There are a lot of changes that are going on there for the better right now, and I'd really like to be a part of that." He tilted his head a bit self-consciously and added, "If Youko would have me as part of the government there, that is."

Again there was a funny note in his voice as he said it, and it caused Shoukei to look up him searchingly. Now that Rakushun was in human form, he couldn't hide the faint hint of color that had risen to touch his pale skin. Shoukei blinked.

_Rakushun, are you in love with Queen Kei?_

For the barest span of a heartbeat, Shoukei felt pain in her chest. It took her completely by surprise. She hadn't even realized until that point that some small part of her had wanted to be more than just friends.

It was only a small hurt, however, and Shoukei could not begrudge him the freedom to make his own choice. Along with Suzu, Rakushun and Youko had become Shoukei's closest friends in all the twelve kingdoms. They had helped her set her feet on the path she now traveled. How could she possibly begrudge them anything?

She could be happy for him, for their happiness.

...After all, she had learned of selflessness from him.

Shoukei stood up then, brushing sakura petals from her traveling skirts. "I should be going," she said.

Rakushun rose to his feet as well, walking her to the gate, where he stopped. "I hope everything works out on your travels."

"I hope so, too."

Perhaps Rakushun caught the note of apprehension in her voice. "If it's any consolation, your friends will be waiting for you. Since Youko's offered you a place at court, I know she'll be anxious for your safe return. She'd probably doing everything within her power to make sure that everything works out just fine in the end."

Shoukei knew that he was right. His quiet words reassured her, and she felt a sudden surge of gratitude. Certainly she had not done anything to deserve the trust of such good friends. Youko, Rakushun, Suzu, and all of the others she had met. Having been given such a precious gift, she knew she would foster and treasure that friendship. The memory of it would support and sustain her on her journey, until such time as Shoukei was able to return to a place she could truly call home.

With a lighter heart, she bid Rakushun farewell and stepped back out onto the road.

 


End file.
